Australasian Parliamentary Review JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALASIAN STUDY OF PARLIAMENT GROUP Editor: Rodney Smith, Professor of Australian Politics, University of Sydney SPRING/SUMMER 2018 • VOL 33 NO 2 • RRP $A35 AUSTRALASIAN STUDY OF PARLIAMENT GROUP Established in 1978, the Australasian Study of Parliament Group (ASPG) is a politically nonpartisan body, focused on encouraging and stimulating research, writing, teaching and discussion about parliamentary institutions, particularly those of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. The ASPG has a main Executive body and has established Chapters in all States and Territories of Australia and in New Zealand. These Chapters are supported by the institutions providing secretariat services to the respective legislatures in Australia and New Zealand. ASPG membership consists of parliamentarians, parliamentary officers, academics, teachers, journalists, students and other interested individuals. For more information about the ASPG, go to www.aspg.org.au. AUSTRALASIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW The Australasian Parliamentary Review (APR) is the official journal of the ASPG. Material published in the APR is subject to copyright. Requests for permission to reproduce material from the APR should be directed to the APR Editor: Professor Rodney Smith, University of Sydney. Email: [email protected] ©Australasian Study of Parliament Group ISSN 1447-9125 EDITORIAL BOARD Dr Peter Aimer, University of Auckland Dr Harry Phillips, Parliament of Western Australia Jennifer Aldred, Public and Regulatory Policy Dr Stephen Redenbach, Parliament of Victoria Consultant Dr Paul Reynolds, Parliament of Queensland Dr David Clune, University of Sydney Kirsten Robinson, Parliament of Western Australia Dr Ken Coghill, Monash University Kevin Rozzoli, University of Sydney Professor Brian Costar, Swinburne University of Professor Cheryl Saunders, University of Melbourne Technology Emeritus Professor Marian Sawer, Australian National Dr Jennifer Curtin, University of Auckland University Dr Gareth Griffith, NSW Parliamentary Library Professor Marian Simms, Deakin University Professor John Halligan, University of Canberra Dr Robyn Smith, Parliament of the Northern Territory Associate Professor Graham Hassall, Victoria Dr David Solomon, former Queensland Integrity University of Wellington Commissioner Dr Richard Herr, University of Tasmania Dr Katrin Steinack, University of Melbourne Dr Michael Hogan, University of Sydney Dr Elaine Thompson, University of New South Wales Professor Bryan Horrigan, Monash University Wayne Tunnecliffe, Parliament of Victoria Professor Helen Irving, University of Sydney Professor Anne Twomey, University of Sydney Dr Rosemary Laing, Australian Senate Dr June Verrier, former Head, Australian Parliament Adjunct Professor Colleen Lewis, Monash University Information and Research Services Dr Clement MacIntyre, University of Adelaide Professor George Williams, University of New South Dr Isla Macphail, Parliament of Western Australia Wales Professor Raymond Miller, University of Auckland 1 Australasian Parliamentary Review SPRING/SUMMER 2018 • VOL 33 NO 2 Table of Contents From the Editor 3 Rodney Smith 3 ARTICLES 5 Parliament in the Periphery: Sixteen Years of Labor Government in South Australia, 2002-2018* 6 Mark Dean 6 Tasmania: Majority or Minority Government?* 40 Michael Lester and Dain Bolwell 40 One, Two or Many Queenslands? Disaggregating the Regional Vote at the 2017 Queensland State Election* 57 Paul D. Williams 57 Parliamentarians’ Actions within Petition Systems: Their Impact on Public Perceptions of Fairness* 80 Chris Angus 80 A Watershed in Committee Evidence Gathering: Victorian Parliament’s Inquiry into the CFA Training College at Fiskville* 94 Anita Mackay and John Aliferis 94 Trust and Political Behaviour 118 Jonathan O’Dea 118 CHRONICLES 136 From the Tables – July 2017 to June 2018 137 Glenn Ryall 137 SPRING/SUMMER 2018 • VOL 33 NO 2 2 BOOK REVIEWS 169 New Directions for Law in Australia: Essays in Contemporary Law Reform, edited by Ron Levy, Molly O’Brien, Simon Rice, Pauline Ridge and Margaret Thornton. Canberra: ANU Press, 2017. pp. xiv + 661. RRP $70.00 (print version). 170 Bob Debus 170 In Search of Consensus: New Zealand’s Electoral Act 1956 and its Constitutional Legacy, by Elizabeth McLeay. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2018. pp. 254. RRP $40.00 174 Leonid Sirota 174 Opening Government, Transparency and Engagement in the Information Age, edited by John Wanna and Sam Vincent. Canberra: ANU Press, 2018, pp. xii + 165. RRP $45.00 (print version). 178 Chris Crawford 178 Double Disillusion: The 2016 Federal Election, edited by Anika Gauja, Peter Chen, Jennifer Curtin and Juliet Pietsch and Sam Vincent. Canberra: ANU Press, 2018, pp. xxix + 690. RRP $75.00 (print version). 181 Hiroya Sugita 181 * Indicates that the article has been double-blind reviewed. AUSTRALASIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW 3 From the Editor Rodney Smith Professor of Australian Politics, University of Sydney This issue of the Australasian Parliamentary Review has something of a focus on state politics, with articles on South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland by Mark Dean, Mike Lester and Dean Bolwell, and Paul Williams respectively. All three articles take the most recent state elections as a starting point to explore broader issues in the politics of their chosen states. These issues include aspects of parliamentary representation and relations between parliaments and executives. Two other papers in this issue explore public trust in politics and politicians, an issue also raised in David Solomon’s article in the Autumn/Winter 2018 issue of this journal. Jonathan O’Dea, drawing on his own experiences in New South Wales politics as well as wider examples, identifies some of the causes of lack of public trust and proposes some lessons for politicians who want to build or rebuild public confidence on political processes and institutions. Chris Angus, also focusing on evidence from New South Wales, explores the ways in which parliamentarians’ treatment of petitions might affect public trust in the political system. The remaining paper in this issue analyses the role of parliamentary investigatory committees and how their performance might be improved via a detailed case study of the Parliament of Victoria’s Environment, Natural Resources and Regional Development Committee and its inquiry into the Country Fire Authority Training College at Fiskville. In this issue, we also welcome back the ‘From the Tables’ digest, covering significant parliamentary activities across all Australasian jurisdictions. This digest, compiled by Glenn Ryall, covers the 12 months from July 2017 to June 2018. The longer than usual time period covered means that the digest is also longer than usual, and includes much that I’m sure will be of interest to readers. This issue is rounded off with reviews of four significant recent books on aspects of Australian and New Zealand politics, public administration and law: New Directions for Law in Australia, reviewed by Bob Debus; In Search of Consensus, reviewed by Leonid Sirota; Opening Government, reviewed by Chris Crawford; and Double Disillusion, reviewed by Hiroya Sugita. If you have a relevant book that you would like reviewed in the Australasian Parliamentary Review, please contact me. SPRING/SUMMER 2018 • VOL 33 NO 2 4 Sadly, I must advise readers of the death of Ken Turner, a longstanding member of the Australasian Parliamentary Review’s Editorial Board. Ken joined the Department of Government and Public Administration at the University of Sydney in 1963, chairing the Department between 1974 and 1981 and retiring as Associate Professor in 1988. During his academic career and after his retirement, he did much to promote research and teaching on parliaments, and particularly on the Parliament of New South Wales. Among other publications, he was author of a study of the NSW Legislative Council (House of Review?, University of Sydney Press, 1969), co-author of A History of the Labor Party in NSW 1891-1991 (Longman Cheshire, 1991), and co- editor of The Wran Model (Oxford University Press, 1985), The Premiers of NSW 1856- 2005 (two volumes, The Federation Press, 2006) and The Governors of NSW 1788- 2010 (The Federation Press, 2009). In the early 2000s, Ken served as a member of the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in NSW Committee, helping oversee the production of many original studies of NSW politics and history. Ken used his academic knowledge to engage publicly with issues of Australian constitutional and political reform. He co-wrote the pamphlet Changing the System in 1981, which among other things argued for fixed term parliaments. He also provided influential advice on reforms to the NSW Legislative Council and on the introduction of public funding of election campaigns in NSW. Ken Turner will be missed by many people, including those associated with the Australasian Parliamentary Review and the wider community concerned with the state of Australian parliaments. AUSTRALASIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW 5 Articles SPRING/SUMMER 2018 • VOL 33 NO 2 6 Parliament in the Periphery: Sixteen Years of Labor Government in South Australia, 2002-2018* Mark Dean Research Associate, Australian Industrial Transformation Institute, Flinders University of South Australia * Double-blind reviewed article. Abstract This article examines the sixteen years of Labor government in South Australia from 2002 to 2018. With reference to industry policy and strategy in the context of deindustrialisation,